Birthday in May? Then you're right to think you were born lucky

There are people who believe they were born lucky. And some who believe they were not. And the difference between them, according to new research, is about six months.

If your birthday is in May you are probably one of the lucky people, whereas November babies tend to get a raw deal, psychologists say.

In an internet-based survey involving nearly 30,000 people, researchers asked how lucky people perceived themselves to be. They found that people born during the summer months had a more positive outlook on life and a significantly higher belief in being lucky than those born during the winter months. In Britain May is the optimum month to be born, while November produces the most pessimists.

Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire and his colleague Jayanti Chotai from Umea University in Sweden recruited volunteers from the 2004 Edinburgh International Science Festival and asked them to type in their date of birth and then respond to 13 different statements about their belief in luck and their personality. The participants had to decide how strongly they agreed with statements such as "I tend to look on the bright side of whatever happens to me". People who were born during the summer tended to agree with most of the statements, while people born during the winter were prone to give more negative responses.

The scientists think the difference in outlook stems from the effect that daylight hours may have on dopamine, a brain signalling chemical, and early brain development of the foetus. "The differences are not significant enough to predict individual differences, but they do point towards factors that influence a person's development," said Dr Chotai.